A mother who is in a wheelchair has thanked a community organisation which has pledged to give her hundreds of pounds towards an electric wheelchair. Forty-four-year-old Julie Frances has been told by health experts she is slowly losing her mobility.

'I have a mass at the top of my spinal chord, which is messing up my mobility,' she said.

'I can hardly walk any more. I have gone from being very fit and doing everything in the house to spending most of my time in bed.'

Julie lives at Dobwalls with her husband, and three of her children, one of whom is autistic and has to have two carers with him at school. She told the Cornish Times it was hard for the family to all go out together because her husband could not push her manual wheelchair when he needed to look after their autistic son, who also has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Now Liskeard Lions Club has pledged to give Julie £500 if she can raise the remaining amount needed to buy the specialised wheelchair, which is likely to cost around £3,000.

'We have tried to reject all of the offers of home help because we wanted to be independent,' said Julie.

'It is not in my nature to give in and it has taken a lot to ask for help because I am so stubborn. I want to thank the Lions – it is amazing. We didn't expect anything and we certainly didn't expect to be given that much. It will give me my independence back.'

The president of Liskeard Lions Club, Alan Mawby, said: 'We are pledging £500 because Julie desperately needs the money for the wheelchair and helping people is what the Lions is about.'